1. Field of the Invention
This invention is the process of reacting an N-substituted methylamine with molecular oxygen in a homogeneous system containing a soluble, i.e., dissolved, metal halide catalyst to produce an N-substituted formamide. The starting amine compound can be secondary or tertiary and can be a monoamine or diamine, and the diamine can be mixed, that is, contain a secondary and tertiary amine group in the molecule.
2. Description of Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,483,210 to Rosenblatt and Davis discloses the oxidation of the methyl group of a tertiary N-methyl-amine to a formyl group by the use of oxygen at atmospheric pressure with the amine in liquid phase in the presence of a heterogeneous (insoluble) catalyst of the platinum metal group.